Brace For Impact
by Alexis Seven
Summary: Captain Janeway and her first officer have a bit of a run in...in more ways than one! J/C. Oneshot. Please, R&R!


Disclaimer: ST:VOY is not mine. If it were, there would never, NEVER have been C/7. DOWN WITH C/7!!! *ahem* anyway, yeah. I am not making money off of this; this is just for fun, you know the drill.

This was just a random snippet that I had to write down. I needed some good J/C fluff.

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Kathryn Janeway sat in her captain's chair, rubbing the bridge of her nose and aimlessly staring into the star field in front of her. She was restless. Other than the occasional alien ship to trade with or stray asteroid to scan, the past few weeks had been relatively dull. Today was no different. She shifted anxiously in her seat, waiting desperately for her shift to be over. Of course, she didn't know what she'd do when she got back to her quarters, but anything would be better than just…sitting. And watching the screen. She figured she'd just bury her nose in a good book, but even that didn't sound too inviting. She glanced as discreetly as possible at the clock on the panel between herself and Chakotay, and was disappointed to find that there was still a good hour left before her time on the bridge was through. She rolled her eyes. Her first officer did not miss this little display.

"Something wrong, captain?" He asked, watching her with a careful gaze.

"What? No, there's nothing wrong, I just…" She didn't quite know how to respond. She settled instead for sighing and shaking her head.

"Tired?" He offered, the corners of his lips turned up ever so slightly.

"No, I'm not tired." A wan smile played across her face. "I suppose I just wish there was something to do." She raised her hands up in a resigned gesture. "Reports have been completed and filed, we resupplied last week, there are no anomalies out here to observe, no new races to meet, _nothing_. Plain and simple--"

"You're bored." Chakotay's slight smile spread into a wide grin.

"Affirmative, commander." Kathryn turned back to the screen in front of them. "I am most decidedly bored."

They sat a few moments in silence, blankly watching the stars pass by at warp speed.

"Captain, I think I may have something to remedy your boredom." Her first officer said, his tone secretive but playful.

Her interest piqued, she turned to him again. "And what might that be?" She raised an eyebrow.

"You'll just have to wait and see. I'll meet you at the holodeck at 1800 sharp." He turned forward again, without batting an eyelash. "Agreed?"

"Agreed…" Kathryn sat, brow furrowed, wondering just what had gotten into her first officer. _Now_ she was curious. "Commander…"

His lips curled up even more, if that were possible, and he didn't even so much as glance in her direction, but kept his level gaze on the empty veiwscreen. It was clear he wasn't going to say anything further on the matter. As much as she wanted to know what was going on, Kathryn held her tongue. She was actually enjoying this. It would give her something to think about until the end of her shift.

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Sure enough, at 1800 Kathryn strode up to the holodeck doors, where Chakotay was already waiting. She was going to have a good time, Chakotay decided. He would make sure of that, she needed it. He hoped she would enjoy what he had planned for her. The tall man smiled at her approach, revealing the deep dimples at either side of his mouth.

"Save it, Chakotay, and tell me what this is all about." She returned his smile with her own devilish grin.

"A program that Tom came up with. He showed it to me some time ago, and I must admit, it is fun, not to mention good exercise." Kathryn cocked her head and he turned to speak to the panel on the wall. "Computer, initiate program Paris Twelve."

"Program complete. Enter when ready." The computer's placid voice stated.

The first officer turned to his captain, and swept his arm toward the door. "Ladies first."

She hesitantly stepped toward the holodeck doors, and they hissed open to show a large, sleek wooden floor surrounded by a low wall. On the other side of the wall, all around the large, open area, were assorted tables and chairs where people sat, chatting or eating, dressed in a manner of Earth during the 1950's. The open area was populated, too, only these people were wearing shoes with wheels. What Tom Paris defined as 'Rock n' Roll' was playing over the speakers, and the place smelled vaguely of fried food.

"A…roller rink?" Kathryn asked, the look on her face a mix of confusion and panic. She had never been on roller skates in her life. She barely knew what the things were. She was a scientist, not a historian. They were a crude method of transportation on 20th century Earth. That was the extent of her knowledge. She quickly masked her unsure expression with one of complete confidence.

Chakotay had already stepped inside and had ordered two pairs of skates to his and the captain's specifications and measurements. She walked in behind him as he picked up the classic high top boots. They made their way to a table at the side of the rink, and he sat to put his on, leaving the smaller white ones with blue wheels and stoppers for her. His smile was still firmly in place. She wasn't about to let him see her in a position of weakness. She gathered herself up, put her own smirk across her mouth, and sat down beside him at the table, slipping the skates on and lacing them tight, despite the fact that she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.

Her first officer stood up and effortlessly glided across the floor, stopping and pivoting to face her. He seemed even more smug than before, yet he still had that genuine smile that she so enjoyed seeing.

Kathryn stood, careful to keep her weight centered over her incredibly unsteady feet, and managed to lightly shuffle her way to the wall, her look of total coolness not wavering once. She dared not look at Chakotay, knowing that the wide grin he was sure to be wearing was probably taking up well over half of his face. When she finally made it onto the main floor, she turned to face him, and sure enough, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"You've never done this before, have you, Kathryn?" He chuckled.

"Well, don't be ridiculous, I--" she released her death grip on the barrier and found herself descending rapidly toward the floor. She barely managed to latch on again before she ever made contact. Chakotay was at her side in an instant, his strong arms ready to catch her. She pulled herself up, and brought a palm up toward him in an effort to say that she would be fine. He moved back a bit, and she quickly changed her previous thought. Bluffing was clearly not going to do her any good here. "No, I haven't done this, no."

"I thought as much." Was all he said by way of reply. He moved behind her and helped support her while she cautiously stood on the stoppers on the toes of her skates. "If you'd like we can do something else, you always seem at home in Da Vinci's workshop…" His voice reflected some vague form of disappointment.

"Are you kidding? This is the first real challenge I've had to deal with in over a month. You honestly don't expect me to give up so fast, do you?" Kathryn excitedly looked out at the rink; a good number of holographic figures seemed to float about the arena. "Although, perhaps it would be a good idea to remove any potential…obstacles."

Chakotay beamed and glanced out at the holograms, ordering the computer to delete them, leaving the two alone. With an empty rink, Kathryn let out a sigh of relief. "Shall we?" Chakotay spun easily onto the floor, and rolled back over to where she was leaning against the low wall. She offered her arm, and he lightly took it in a firm but friendly grip, and led her out to the center of the floor. It didn't take her too long to pick up on the basic idea.

After more than her fair share of stumbles, Kathryn was gaining confidence, finally able to move easily forward and turn without much of a problem. They were both laughing and having a good time, enjoying the moment the two rarely seem to have. Aside from their weekly dinners, and the occasional coffee in her ready room, they hardly saw each other outside of their respective duties to the ship.

She skated past Chakotay, just fast enough for her self-created breeze to lightly ruffle her hair, yet still at an easy pace. She was surprised when he sped past her. Tossing the fact that she was still learning aside, she picked up her speed and headed right toward the man. He whirled around and stopped, and a look of dread at the inevitable etched itself firmly on his face. To her dismay, Kathryn found that she had yet to learn how to stop. Her eyes darted around the room, and she flailed her arms wildly in hopes of finding something, anything, to grab to keep her from ramming into her friend. In the split second that she realized that there was no stopping her, only one thought ran through her mind. _Brace for impact._ She bent at the knees and brought her forearms up in front of her face, her head down more out of embarrassment of what was going to happen than out of protection.

She hit his chest and her momentum threw them to the center of the rink. His arms wrapped around her, securing her to him and in so doing he took the brunt of the force as the two met the floor with a resounding _thwack._ They ultimately ended up in a tangled heap, wheels still spinning.

After the initial shock of what had happened, Chakotay looked at the woman sprawled out in a most undignified manner on top of him. Her face was buried under her hair. She was almost trembling, her shoulders shaking in rhythm with small whimpering noises. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. When she lifted her face off of his chest, he was pleasantly surprised to find that she was laughing. He started to join her, adding his voice to hers. They managed to disentangle themselves somewhat, and sat up, laughing like utter fools.

"I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am for that." She said between giggles. She looked up at him, as she was still in his lap, and tears streaked down her cheeks.

"Not your fault, I should've moved."

"Well, I am certainly glad you didn't, this floor is hard." She emphasized this point by slapping her hand on it.

"Then I am happy to have stayed where I was." He chuckled again.

"You are a marvel, Chakotay. I don't think there is any way that I would have found myself happy to be hit by someone on roller skates going as fast as I was." She chortled, and met his gaze. His chocolate brown eyes seemed to be smiling in themselves, and she could see that ever present devotion. Devotion to her. He was so close…

Before she realized what she was doing, she had pulled his head down to meet hers in a kiss. Her hands found their way to the back of his neck and pulled him closer, her fingers threading through the hair on the back of his head. He returned the kiss eagerly, his arms tightening their hold around her waist.

_What am I doing?_ Kathryn abruptly pulled back, her dark blue eyes wide with shock. She scrambled off of the man and started to get to her feet. By the time she was upright, he was already standing, a questioning and confused look on his face. She started to brush herself off, but her sudden movements earned her a return trip to the roller rink floor. Her tailbone made rough contact, and a surprised _oof_ squeaked its way out of her throat. She reached up to see if her cheeks were as hot as they felt. They were.

"Chakotay, I—I'm--" she stammered. She couldn't even begin to explain what just happened.

He offered his hand to help her up, and she reluctantly took it. He pulled her from her position on the floor, and with the wheels on her feet, she was much easier to pull into another kiss.

She smiled when she saw the smirk on his face, and the thought of only a few moments before came back to mind.

_Brace for impact._

FIN

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Wow, this practically wrote itself! This was so much fun to write, I hope you enjoyed reading it!!!

Ooh, I'd like to give a big thank you to Kippling Croft for the springboard of roller skating and ending up in someone's lap, genius! The fact that I've been on a roller skating kick recently (as you know, KC,) certainly helps, too!

Anyway, please read and review!!! I do SO love getting reviews!!!


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